The True Gospel

The True Gospel

An Exegetical Essay

The question which concerns us at this point: what is the precise content of the Gospel which must believed in order to be saved? Or to phrase it a different way, what is the Scriptural distinction between a false gospel and the true Gospel? In order first to answer this question, we need to look at those summaries of the Gospel which we find in Scripture. Primarily, such summaries are found recorded in the preaching segments of the books of Acts, and in certain sections of Paul's writings, and it is to these that we first turn.

This is not to say that other sections of Scripture do not impact our concerns here. However, in formulating doctrine, one naturally begins with a set of Scriptures which function as hermeneutically prior, i.e., they become the grid through which other passages of Scripture are interpreted. Let me suggest that there are two reasons to make my list of Scriptures hermeneutically prior:

The Gospels summaries in Acts would naturally be considered by the apostles to contain those elements most essential to faith in Christ, the central tenets that must be contained in the apostolic kerygma.
Paul's summaries particularly are in the face of false teaching which have arisen in the various congregations to which he ministered, and are intended to show that which is foundational to resisting such heresy, and as the first "building block" in developing a holistic set of Christian doctrine for the life of the church.
This is not a reason, but I think it is also safe to say that the preaching models in Acts and the Gospel summaries in Paul need to function as the models for our own evangelistic pursuits. If we say what they said, appropriately paraphrased and contextualized, but covering the same essential ground, then how may we go wrong? A further implication is that if we add elements, even true doctrinal elements, to these divinely given models, then we have added what is not necessary to the apostolic kerygma, and we are placing a burden on our hearers that the Scriptures themselves do not.

Let me suggest by way of overview that these passage are heavily concerned with the person and work of Christ, not in the developed sense of later Christian systematic theology, but in the eschatological sense expressed by the Scrptures themselves. Many passages could be considered, but we will begin with four in the interests of time and space (and perforce our exegesis must be brief, but hopefully accurate!):

Peter's sermon in Acts 2, especially vss. 22-38.
Paul's sermon in Acts 17:22-31
Romans 10:9-13
I Cor 15:1-3

2:22 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know -- 2:23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 2:24 But God raised him up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 2:25 For David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; 2:26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh will dwell in hope. 2:27 For thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let thy Holy One see corruption. 2:28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou wilt make me full of gladness with thy presence.' 2:29 "Brethren, I may say to you confidently of the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 2:30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne, 2:31 he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 2:32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 2:33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear. 2:34 For David did not ascend into the heavens; but he himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, 2:35 till I make thy enemies a stool for thy feet.' 2:36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." 2:37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" 2:38 And Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. [RSV]

Now, what are the actual elements which are emphasized in this marvelous, and foundational, homiletical piece (and certainly the passage is best understood in its entirety).

Christ crucified
The resurrection of Christ from the dead
The exaltation of Christ and his current status of Savior and Lord

And what is the appropriate response to these truths? Repentence, and baptism in the name of Christ. Once the truths contained in this "Gospel presentation" are believed, they must be publically confessed, and the result of that confession in this passage is receiving the Holy Spirit.

Time does fail us to consider the passage more fully, and particularly how Peter skilfully, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, emphasizes the eschatological finality of the giving of the Spirit as part of the overall Gospel truth (in fulfillment of OT prophecy). But it is not faith in the Spirit which is in view, but faith in Christ crucified, resurrected and exalted, that results in the gift of the Spirit.

17:22 So Paul, standing in the middle of the Are-op'agus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 17:23 For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, To an unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 17:24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man, 17:25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything. 17:26 And he made from one every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their habitation, 17:27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after him and find him. Yet he is not far from each one of us, 17:28 for In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your poets have said, For we are indeed his offspring.' 17:29 Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the Deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, a representation by the art and imagination of man. 17:30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent, 17:31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all men by raising him from the dead." [RSV]

Once again, what does another apostle, this time Paul, find necessary to include as Gospel truth in his evangelistic kerygma, this time to a group of individuals who have absolutely no biblical background whatsoever? In this case, Paul begins where the Bible begins: with God as absolute creator and owner of the universe, and emphasizes God's common grace and his self-revelation through the created order. To what point does he drive, however? To the resurrection of Christ from the dead. If we read on in the text, Luke records Paul's speech as ending at this point, and the Athenians, well grounded in Greek philosophy with its unbiblical flesh/spirit dichotomy, as being with him until that point. Regardless of their response (and a few do end up believing), the following truths may be abstracted:

God as the Creator and Judge who reveals himself through the created order
and the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

Ro 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Ro 10:10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Ro 10:11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." Ro 10:12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile-- the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, Ro 10:13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." [NIV]

In this passage, Paul is explicating the precise content of the kerygmatic message which the preacher (cf. the preceding context) must have. Note that this summary is included in a letter which fully explicates the need for justification by faith and salvation by grace alone. What are the essential elements of this summary?

Jesus as Lord
Confession that Christ has raised him from the dead

Further significant elements include "trust/belief" (Grk, pisteuw) and "calling upon the name of the Lord." This passage also has a number of rich implications and applications, not the least the essential equality which Christ has with Yahweh of the OT. It is confession of this "content", or rather confession of the Lordship and resurrection of Christ himself, which is defined as "calling on the name of the Lord" and which results in biblically defined salvation.

And finally:

1Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 1Co 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 1Co 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures... [KJV]

Paul is about to embark on a rather ambitious discourse to defend the validity of the biblical concept of the resurrection, in a passage which will become one of the defining pillars of orthodoxy for the church in all its subsequent generations. It is this Gospel "by which" (Grk. di ou-, note the emphatic use of the preposition to denote the instrumental) "ye are (present tense) saved." What is the specific content of this Gospel?

That Christ died for our sins and was buried, and
that he rose again on the third day, both truths according to the Scriptures.

Now, as stated above, these treatments have necessarily been brief. However, they do indicate the range of "facts" which must be acknowledged in order to have true Christian belief, or true Christian salvation. One must ask the question: are the doctrinal truths which are often held to be essential to the Gospel by modern Christians included in these biblical Gospel summaries? It has to be recognized that they are not. Even justification by faith and salvation by grace are not included. One simply has to confess the Lordship of Christ, and the truths of his death and resurrection, and one finds oneself saved...

Also, as stated earlier, this does not mean that other biblical truths do not inform our understanding of these summaries. Paul takes great pains to point out that those who require circumcision have effectively denied the grace of God and stand under God's judgment for devaluing what the Gospel means. There are certain beliefs which, if held consistently, deny the very confession of faith which is made. It is important to realize, however, that the true Gospel begins with the simple confession of Christ, and that the implications or details are to be worked out in the progressive sanctification of the believer. But these and similar passages must form our baseline assumptions regarding whom to include in the kingdom and whom to exclude. If a person confesses Christ as Lord, and avows that it is Christ and only Christ that gets him saved, our extreme prejudice must be to consider that person a brother, and to work patiently with him regarding any doctrinal misunderstanding that he may have.

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